The Reverend Peter M.J. Stravinskas

Father Stravinskas was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 25, 1950; he attended parochial elementary and secondary schools and then entered the seminary in 1968.

He was ordained a priest on May 27, 1977. Father Stravinskas holds a bachelor of arts degree in Classical Languages and French from Seton Hall University, a master of arts in School Administration from Seton Hall University, a master of arts in Biblical Theology from Immaculate Conception Seminary (Darlington), a doctor of philosophy in School Administration from Fordham University, and a licentiate of sacred theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. He also has earned a doctorate in sacred theology from the Marian Institute at the University of Dayton and the Marianum in Rome.

He has taught in and administered Catholic educational institutions at the elementary, secondary, university, and seminary levels, serving as professor of education, theology, and classical languages at: Gonzaga University; Georgian Court University, Lakewood, New Jersey; St. John’s University, New York; Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey; Redemptoris Mater Seminary, Kearny, New Jersey; Holy Apostles Seminary, Cromwell, Connecticut; Casperson Graduate School of Drew University, Madison, New Jersey; and Fordham’s Graduate School of Education.

Father Stravinskas founded The Catholic Answer in 1987, editing that periodical for seventeen years. In 2004, he founded The Catholic Response; he has written or edited fifty-one books and more than 600 articles. He has conducted retreats and lectured in eighty dioceses of the United States and over a dozen abroad.

He is the founder and superior of the Priestly Society of Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman, a clerical association of the faithful, committed to Catholic education, liturgical renewal, and the new evangelization. Father Stravinskas is also the President of the Catholic Education Foundation, an organization serving as a resource for heightening the Catholic identity of Catholic schools, likewise serving on the Research Faculty of the Maryvale Institute in Birmingham, England. He is also the founding director of the graduate program in Catholic school administration through Pontifex University.